Article excerpt

While most newspapers are developing their online presence, the Spanish-language news website Latino California (latinocalifornia.com is expanding into print.

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Fueled by a scandal centered on corrupt city officials, Latino California Bell was born. Bell, Calif., is a working-class city about 15 minutes outside Los Angeles that received national attention in 2010 when eight city officials, including the mayor and city manager, were arrested and charged with corruption.

According to Latino California's chief executive officer and founder Maria Luisa Arredondo, Bell's business association created a newspaper around the time of the scandal to keep citizens updated on the situation. But once the media attention started to fade, there was still demand to continue the publication. Association members contacted Arredondo after finding the Latino California website and proposed they enter into an alliance. Arredondo said the association takes care of administration and advertising, while Latino California provides editorial content.

The first issue launched May 5 with a 10,000 print run and will continue as a monthly publication. The free paper is distributed door-to-door and delivered to businesses in Bell as well as the community center. About 80 percent of the content is written in Spanish.

When Arredondo created Latino California two years ago, she wanted to develop an online news source for the state's Latino population (according to the 2010 state census, that's about 38 percent). A former editor with the Los Angeles-based daily Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion, Arredondo recruited several Latino journalists to join her in the endeavor. …